


be careful of the neighbors, and always keep your voice down

by bloodyangel6666



Series: be careful of the White Demon's tricks or you may fall for them(or him) [3]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bickering, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Frenemies, Gen, Idiots in Love, Kyuubei x Otae mentioned, M/M, Male-Female Friendship, past Gintoki x Kyuubei, past Hijikata x Mitsuba
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25360525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodyangel6666/pseuds/bloodyangel6666
Summary: Additional details on how the demons got together.Takes place two years prior to the events in the first one shot
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Series: be careful of the White Demon's tricks or you may fall for them(or him) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1830025
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	be careful of the neighbors, and always keep your voice down

It started out as a simple crush. He didn't even know why, but he couldn't really stop his stomach from turning and his heartbeat from picking up its pace whenever he saw or heard Gintoki. It was inadvertent, he didn't intend to crush on _anyone_ in the first place because it would surely affect his studying, and if it affected his studying, his ex's little brother would surpass him in no time. He wouldn't allow that.

That's why, his feelings took the form of anger and annoyance every time Gintoki showed up. Even if his 'crush' obviously showed interest in him as well, Hijikata decided to push him away before a trouble similar to the one with Mitsuba started. It was better this way, for both of them.

And so, one night Hijikata didn't know why he had to face Gintoki during dinner too. He already got enough bullshit from him while practicing. No, actually he knew, but he didn't want to bear looking at that man who was now carelessly chatting with the person next to him.

Said person, Kyuubei(who was also Hijikata's roommate), was one of the reasons why Gintoki was here(the other reason being Gintoki's desperate need of tutoring and Hijikata being the one who was assigned to help, much to his dissatisfaction). Despite Hijikata's silent protests, Kyuubei had invited Gintoki to an early farewell dinner after Gintoki's tutoring session, as they were graduating soon. Hijikata was aware of their friendship with Gintoki, as well as their brief dating attempt in the past which, after some misunderstandings, led to them remaining close as friends. And speaking of dating, now it seemed like Gintoki was giving advice to Kyuubei on how to confess their feelings to Otae.

Kyuubei pursed their lips in thought, then turned to Hijikata.

"What do you think, Hijikata-san?"

Hijikata stopped mid-way into digging in his mayonnaise-drenched spaghetti, which by the way were prepared by Gintoki who almost cried when he saw his creation mercilessly defaced by mayonnaise.

"Hm? About what?"

Gintoki groaned at the mere thought of having to repeat his words. Though his seemingly bored expression remained intact as he regarded Hijikata.

"As I was saying, I think being straightforward is the best strategy because that way the other person knows exactly what you want. But as you might know, Oogushi-kun, women tend to be the exact opposite of straightforward. And it's also well-known that Gin-san got that long list of previous relationships with the help of straightforwardness, so it's obvious this tactic is the best."

Kyuubei's otherwise soft voice lowered to a growl.

"That was incredibly sexist, Gintoki-kun. You're the worst. If you say anything like this again, I'll chop your XXX off."

Gintoki's lips trembled in a nervous smile as he scooted over closer to Hijikata.

"Oi, oi, no need to be violent- Oogushi-kun, you'll protect me, right? Right??"

Hijikata shot him a quick look, then turned his attention back to Kyuubei.

"As much as I don't want to say it, the idiot's right… to some extent."

"Do you want your XXX cut off too, Hijikata-san? I can arrange that." Kyuubei suggested with a creepily nice smile. They really rubbed off on Otae's passive-agressive demeanor…

Hijikata nearly sputtered on his food. In the blink of an eye, he was already behind Gintoki, using him as a shield.

"Do something, permhead! I don't want to die!"

"Shouldn't you be more worried about your XXX?!" Gintoki retorted, then stood up and in turn hid behind Hijikata. "Isn't your dignity more important than your life? What kind of man are you?!"

"I don't see a difference between those things! What are you even going on about?! Talking about dignity while hiding like a coward!"

"You did that too just now, you hypocrite!"

"Aah, stop that!" Kyuubei shouted as they slammed their hands on the table and stood up to come to eye-level with Gintoki and Hijikata. Well, it was more like shoulder-level, but at least Kyuubei was surpassing the other two in seriousness and brains(obviously), compromising the height difference. "You don't get the point at all! You'll never get girlfriends or even boyfriends for that matter if you keep it up!"

"Oi, hear that, dumbass?" Hijikata smacked Gintoki's shoulder with the back of his hand. "You'll die alone."

Gintoki returned the gesture.

"Kyuubei-kun was talking to you too, shitty V-bangs."

Hijikata sighed and pointed to Gintoki with a thumb over his shoulder.

"Can I throw him out the window, Kyuubei-san?"

Though Kyuubei didn't have time to answer before Gintoki raised his voice again.

"Oiii, don't ask such things with that innocent face!"

In the end, Hijikata and Kyuubei teamed up to torture Gintoki with endless tickling.

—Five years later—

"...-shiro. Oi, Toshiro… Oogushi-kun?"

Hijikata was brought back to reality after hearing his old nickname. He blinked a few times, realizing that he was slouched over his desk, pen hovering above the paperwork he had yet to complete reviewing and filling out. A long-forgotten cigarette sat in the ashtray next to his hands, and behind him stood Gintoki who had his hand plopped on top of the paperwork, probably to get Hijikata's attention. Hijikata tilted his head back to get a proper view of Gintoki.

"What is it?"

Gintoki made a disgruntled noise, but otherwise all Hijikata saw was a worried man. Wait. Why did he look worried?

"You were zoning out. Are you sure you get enough rest? Jeez, you look like finals are approaching and we already graduated university… Are you okay?"

Well, he wasn't far from the truth. Now that Hijikata finally succeeded in joining the police, every day felt like final exams, and Hijikata knew damn well that his performance in his current tasks needed to be perfect so that he could climb the ladder and become a proper officer or even detective if he was lucky enough. Which also put him under constant immense pressure, leading to stress and sleep deprivation. Thank goodness he had Gintoki on his side. Sure, he was more reckless and carefree, but as the years passed, their roles, strangely, had switched.

"I… Yeah. I'm fine." He reluctantly answered, but Gintoki didn't buy it. Gentle, but steady hands shot up to cradle his face, and Hijikata felt the breath on his lips as the other leaned down.

"You don't look _fine_ , Toshiro. You look terrible." Gintoki stated without an attempt to cover up his bitterness. "So could you leave that for at least five minutes and lay down?"

Hijikata pursed his lips like a sulking kid and tried to look back down towards the desk, but Gintoki held him in place. Mental note: take Gintoki's monthly fitness membership card away because, hell, this man was on the brink of becoming a beast and even surpassing Hijikata in strength a little bit. Plus, wasn't Gintoki the one who had once said that they were equal? He had clearly forgotten about that.

"Okay, okay. But- only five minutes. I have to finish that in two days or Kondo-san will-"

A quick kiss made him shut up, but instead of smiling afterwards like usual, Gintoki frowned.

"Seriously… Every day it's Kondo-san this, Kondo-san that- Who's your boyfriend - me or that gorilla?"

That sounded a lot like this 'who's your daddy' saying… Nope. Nuh-uh. Gotta push this perverted thought away. Hijikata wasn't at all interested in those stupid kinks anyway.

"First - I'm sorry, I guess, that I want to be recognized by him, second - of course it's you, dumbass! -And he's not a gorilla."

"Oi, who are you calling a dumbass, you dumbass?!" Gintoki retorted. Immediately after that, he groaned and let go of Hijikata's cheeks, only to lift him up a second later. "You're going to bed now and I'll make damn sure to chain you there if you try to get up."

Hijikata threw his head back in exasperation, releasing an irritated groan of his own, but otherwise he didn't protest.

"Oh come on, it's been three years. Your sadism doesn't scare me anymore, you know."

Gintoki stopped in his tracks, raised a brow, then made a sharp turn and walked out of the room, heading to the bathroom.

"On a second thought, you better take a shower first. You stink."

"Shut up, Gintoki! And why do you need to carry me anyway?! I'm just tired, not unable to walk, so let me go!"

"Ah-ha!" Gintoki exclaimed. He would surely point a finger at Hijikata if his arms weren't occupied, but his smug expression was enough for now. "So you admit that you're tired! I knew it!"

"Oi, don't ignore half of my words. I told you to let me go."

"Okay, I'll just drop you then."

"For fuck's sake, no! Don't you dare drop me!"

As Hijikata grasped Gintoki's shoulders for dear life, the other rolled his eyes, but couldn't stop the smile tugging on his lips.

"Will you decide already? You're more indecisive than a woman."

"That was sexist." Hijikata commented with a sour expression, which then turned into a wide-eyed one. "Oh- That reminds me of that one dinner before Kyuubei-san's graduation."

Gintoki furrowed his eyebrows and Hijikata could almost see him searching through his memories as they entered the bathroom. He let Hijikata sit on the edge of the tub in favor of scratching his head.

"Oh! _That_ dinner! When they said that we'll never get ourselves a girlfriend or a boyfriend?" 

Hijikata nodded.

"Exactly. I was thinking of getting in touch with them sometime to prove them wrong. That's what I was thinking about earlier."

Gintoki's mouth froze in an 'o', but then stretched again in a smug smile.

"So you want to show off that you have the great Gin-san by your side? Is that it, Toshiro-kun~?"

Hijikata snorted in a weak attempt to refrain from laughing, stood up and began undressing.

"I change my mind - I don't want people to see that I'm babysitting a grown-up kid."

Gintoki's instinct was to pout and throw a tantrum to seek attention from Hijikata, but… wait, that would just prove Hijikata's point. So instead of approaching the situation like usual and being as stubborn as he was, Gintoki wrapped his arms around Hijikata's already half-naked body and pulled him close. He turned so serious in just a second that it was almost scary. That is, if they were in a different situation. For example, he used to make that kind of expression occasionally back when he was competing with Hijikata in university - a rare occurrence where he showed that his emotions didn't consist of only laziness, stubbornness and smugness.

"I can be mature. It's just that I don't want it. And you like me anyway, so I don't see what's the big deal." The serious face was gone the moment Hijikata looked away, visibly embarrassed by the sudden change of the atmosphere. "You should let off some steam too. Gin-san will help you~"

Needless to say, Hijikata was caught off guard by the lips on his neck and the sneaky hands that were working on unbuckling his belt. Not that he was surprised - he expected this, but not in the bathroom of all places! He didn't push Gintoki away though. Instead he settled for a kiss on top of the fluffy mess of hair, and a light pat on his back.

"I told you I'm tired, and I meant it. Let's leave this for tomorrow."

Gintoki stopped immediately and took a step back with a somewhat guilty face now.

"Ah, right. Sorry."

"What are you apologizing for? You're making me feel bad."

"That… was my initial goal actually."

A few moments of silence, then, "You're the worst!" and Hijikata graced Gintoki's shoulder with a punch. The latter had the audacity to look offended.

"That's domestic violence! I'll report you to the police!"

"Go ahead, I'll have fun reviewing your report."

Gintoki stuck his tongue out in response. He turned around to run out of the bathroom, but Hijikata tackled him to the ground and caught his wrists, pinning them to his lower back.

"Now, would you mind making use of your right to remain silent?"

"Eeh? No way!" Gintoki tried thrashing around to free himself, but it was incredibly hard to do it in that position. Instead he relaxed and looked over his shoulder, just in time as Hijikata bent down and bit the side of his neck. "Oi, oi, you're too harsh! That's against the law as far as I know! Anyway, what's with that energy, weren't you tired? You're definitely a demon! Pure evil!"

Hijikata laughed, and was just about to say something, but a few faint knocks came from the other side of the wall.

"Ah, the neighbors." Gintoki deadpanned. "I forgot I had them."

"You obviously forgot about the thin walls too. That's a bit… unsettling." Hijikata pointed out with a curl in his lip. He sighed and stood up, signaling the end of their fun time.

"Why, because they've heard us have-"

"That's not what I meant, you pervert! If anything, they would think we're fighting for real."

Gintoki simply laughed it off. He stood up too, clasped a hand on Hijikata's shoulder and said in a serious tone, "You have to be quieter from now on, Toshiro-kun."

"You're the louder one here. You should work on keeping your voice down, and not just while we're 'fighting'."

With that said, Hijikata turned around to finally take a bath, now satisfied that Gintoki was rendered speechless because of the bold exposure of his habits. Despite being slightly embarrassed, Gintoki smiled and turned to walk out of the bathroom.

"See you in bed then."

"Yeah, yeah."

Now that Hijikata had time to think about it, he was glad that Gintoki was so persistent in trying to get his attention literally for years.

It was absolutely worth it.


End file.
